Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the
enacting words and inserting:

SECTION 1.
Chapter 31, Title 23 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:

"Article 10

NICS: Mental Health Adjudication and Commitment
Reporting

Section 23-31-1010. As used in this
article, and for the purposes of 18 U. S. C. Section 922
(g)(4):
(1) 'Adjudicated as a
mental defective' means a determination by a court, board,
commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result
of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness,
incompetency, condition, or disease:
(a)
is a danger to himself or to others; or
(b)
lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his own
affairs.
The term includes:
(i)
a finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case;
and
(ii)
those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found
not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility pursuant
to articles 50a and 72b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,
10 U.S.C. Sections 850(a) and 876(b).
(2) 'Committed to a
mental institution' means a formal commitment of a person to a
mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other
lawful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental
institution involuntarily. The term includes commitment for
mental defectiveness or mental illness. It also includes
commitments for other reasons, such as for drug use. The term
does not include a person in a mental institution for
observation or a voluntary admission to a mental
institution.
(3) 'Mental
institution' includes mental health facilities, mental
hospitals, sanitariums, psychiatric facilities, and other
facilities that provide diagnoses by licensed professionals of
mental retardation or mental illness, including a psychiatric
ward in a general hospital.

Section 23-31-1020. (A)
The Judicial Department and the Chief of the
State Law Enforcement Division, or his designee, shall work in
conjunction with the appropriate court of each county in
developing procedures for the collection and submission of
information of persons who have been adjudicated as a mental
defective or who have been committed to a mental
institution.
(B) When a court
submits this information to the State Law Enforcement
Division. SLED shall transmit the information to the National
Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) established
pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act of 1993,
Pub. Law 103-159.
(C) On an ongoing basis
the courts shall submit this information to SLED as
adjudications and commitments occur. Under no circumstances may
the courts or SLED submit information pursuant to this section
relating to a person's diagnosis or treatment.
(D) SLED shall keep
information submitted by the courts confidential and it may only
be disclosed to the National Instant Criminal Background Check
System pursuant to this section or for purposes directly related
to the Brady Act or as provided for in subsection (E).
(E) If the court has
submitted a person's name and other identifying information to
SLED to be transmitted to NICS , the State Law Enforcement
Division shall review the State concealed weapons permit holders
list and if the review reveals that the person possesses a
current concealed weapons permit, the permit is revoked and must
be surrendered to a sheriff, police department, a SLED agent, or
by certified mail to the Chief of SLED. If the permit holder
fails to return the permit within ten days of being notified of
its revocation, SLED shall retrieve the permit from the permit
holder.
(F) Information
submitted by the courts pursuant to this section, which is also
contained in court orders or in other state or local agency
records, is not affected by this section, and these court orders
or other state or local agency records may be disclosed in
accordance with existing laws and procedures.

Section 23-31-1030. (A)
If a person is prohibited from shipping,
transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm or ammunition
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(4) or Section 23-31-1040 as
a result of adjudication as a mental defective or commitment to
a mental institution, the person may petition the court that
issued the original order to remove the prohibitions. The person
may file the petition upon the expiration of any current
commitment order; however the court only may consider petitions
for relief due to adjudications and commitments that occurred in
this State.
(B) The petition must
be accompanied by a fifty dollar filing fee and an authorization
and release signed by the petitioner, authorizing disclosure of
petitioner's current and past medical records, including mental
health records.
(C) The petitioner
shall serve his petition on and notice parties in the discretion
of the court.
(D)(1) Within ninety
days of receiving the petition, unless the court grants an
extension upon request of the petitioner, the court shall
conduct a hearing which must be presided over by a person other
than the person who gathered evidence for use by the court in
the hearing.
(2) At the hearing on
the petition, the petitioner shall have the opportunity to
submit evidence, and a record of the hearing must be made and
maintained for review. The court shall consider information and
records, which otherwise are confidential or privileged,
relevant to the criteria for removing firearm and ammunition
prohibitions and shall receive and consider evidence concerning
the following:
(a)
the circumstances regarding the firearm and ammunitions
prohibitions imposed by 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(4) and Section
23-31-1040;
(b)
the petitioner's record, which must include, at a minimum,
the petitioner's mental health and criminal history records;
(c)
the petitioner's reputation developed, at a minimum,
through character witness statements, testimony, or other
character evidence. ; and
(d)
a current evaluation presented by the petitioner conducted
by the Department of Mental Health or a physician licensed in
this State specializing in mental health specifically addressing
whether due to mental defectiveness or mental illness the
petitioner poses a threat to the safety of the public or himself
or herself.
(E) Unless the court
finds that the public interest would be better served, the
hearing must be closed to the public and the petitioner's mental
health records must be restricted from public disclosure.
However, if the court determines the hearing should be open to
the public, upon motion by the petitioner the court may allow
for the in camera inspection of the petitioner's mental health
records and for the use of these records, but these records must
be restricted from public disclosure.
(F)(1) The court shall
make findings of fact regarding the following and shall remove
the firearm and ammunition prohibitions if the petitioner proves
by a preponderance of the evidence that: (a)
the petitioner is no longer required to participate
in court-ordered psychiatric treatment;
(b)
the petitioner is determined by the Department of Mental
Health or by a physician licensed in this State specializing in
mental health to benot likely to act in a manner
dangerous to public safety; and
(c)
granting the petitioner relief will not be contrary to the
public interest.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (F)(1), the
court must not remove the firearm and ammunition prohibitions
if, by a preponderance of the evidence, it is proven that the
petitioner has engaged in acts of violence subsequent to the
petitioner's last adjudication as a mental defective or last
commitment to a mental institution, unless the petitioner, by
clear and convincing evidence, proves that he is not likely to
act in a manner dangerous to public safety.
(G) If the petitioner
is denied relief and the firearm and ammunition prohibitions are
not removed, the petitioner may appeal to the circuit court for
de novo review. In conducting its review, the circuit
court:
(1)
shall review the record;
(2)
may give deference to the decision of the court denying
the petitioner relief; and
(3)
may receive additional evidence as necessary to conduct an
adequate review.
(H) Medical records,
psychological reports, and other treatment records which have
been submitted to the court or admitted into evidence under this
section must be part of the record, but must be sealed and
opened only on order of the court.
(I) If a court issues
an order pursuant to this section that removes the firearm and
ammunition prohibitions that prohibited the petitioner from
shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm or
ammunition pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(4) or Section
23-31-1040, arising from adjudication as a mental defective or
commitment to a mental institution, the court shall provide the
State Law Enforcement Division with a certified copy of the
order. The State Law Enforcement Division promptly shall inform
the National Instant Criminal Background Check System of the
court action removing these firearm and ammunition prohibitions.

Section 23-31-1040. It
is unlawful for a person who has been adjudicated as a mental
defective or who has been committed to a mental institution to
ship, transport, possess, or receive a firearm or ammunition.

Section 23-31-1050. As
used in Section 23-31-1030 and Section 23-31-1040:
(1) 'Ammunition' means
ammunition or cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or propellant
powder designed for use in any firearm other than an antique
firearm. The term shall not include:
(a)
any shotgun shot or pellet not designed for use as the
single, complete projectile load for one shotgun hull or casing;
or
(b)
any unloaded, non-metallic shotgun hull or casing not
having a primer.
(2) 'Antique firearm'
means:
(a)
any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock,
flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system)
manufactured in or before 1898; and
(b)
any replica of any firearm described in subitem (a) of
this definition if such replica:
(i)
is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or
conventional centerfire fixed ammunition; or
(ii)
uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition
which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which
is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial
trade.
(3) 'Firearm' means any
weapon, including a starter gun, which will or is designed to or
may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of
an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any
firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or any destructive device;
but the term shall not include an antique firearm. In the case
of a licensed collector, the term shall mean only curios and
relics.
(4) 'Firearm frame or
receiver' means that part of a firearm which provides housing
for the hammer, bolt or breechblock, and firing mechanism, and
which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the
barrel.
(5) 'Firearm muffler or
firearm silencer' means any device for silencing, muffling, or
diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any
combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for
use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm
muffler, and any part intended only for use in such assembly or
fabrication."

SECTION 2. Section
44-22-100 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 44-22-100.
(A) Certificates, applications,
records, and reports made for the purpose of this chapter or
Chapter 9, Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Article 1 of
Chapter 15, Chapter 17, Chapter 20, Chapter 23, Chapter
24, Chapter 25, Chapter 27, or Chapter 52 of this
title and directly or indirectly identifying a mentally
ill or alcohol and drug abuse patient or former patient or
individual whose commitment has been sought must be kept
confidential and must not be disclosed unless:
(1)
the individual identified or his guardian consents;
(2)
a court directs that disclosure is necessary for the
conduct of proceedings before it and that failure to make the
disclosure is contrary to the public interest;
(3)
disclosure is required for research conducted or
authorized by the department or the Department of Alcohol and
Other Drug Abuse Services and with the consent of the patient;
(4)
disclosure is necessary to cooperate with law enforcement,
health, welfare, and other state or federal agencies or when
furthering the welfare of the patient or his family;
or
(5)
disclosure is necessary to make reports to the Judicial
Department or State Law Enforcement Division for the limited
purpose of providing notice to the federal National Instant
Criminal Background Check System, established pursuant to the
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, Pub. L. 103-159
and in accordance with Article 10, Chapter 31, Title 23;
or
(6)
disclosure is necessary to carry out the provisions of
this chapter or Chapter 9, Chapter 11, Chapter 13,
Article 1 of Chapter 15, Chapter 17, Chapter
20, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 27, or
Chapter 52 of this title.
(B) Nothing in this
section:
(1)
precludes disclosure, upon proper inquiry, of information
as to a patient's current medical condition to members of his
family, or the Governor's ombudsman office; or
(2)
requires the release of records of which disclosure is
prohibited or regulated by federal law.
(C) A person who
violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or
imprisoned not more than one year, or both."

SECTION 3. Courts
required to submit information to the State Law Enforcement
Division pursuant to this act concerning individuals who have
been adjudicated as a mental defective or who have been
committed to a mental institution shall, from the effective date
of this act forward, submit information as it arises and in
accordance with procedures developed as required by this act and
have one year from this act's effective date to submit
retroactive information on such individuals going back a minimum
of ten years or if records are not available as far back as ten
years, then as far back as records exist.

SECTION 4. If any
section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause,
phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be
unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the
constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this
act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have
passed this act, and each and every section, subsection,
paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word
thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other
sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences,
clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be
unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.

SECTION 5. This act
takes effect ninety days after approval by the Governor.
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